Fish developments
It took a couple of days, but I got the tank formerly occupied by the late, great Mellie all stipped down, cleaned, dried, cleaned some more, then set back up and filled with water, fake plants, shiny rocks, and 25 lbs of gravel. It took a lot of elbow grease to get off some of the streaks and calcium residue, but it looks almost like new. I got all new plants, gravel, bubble wand, airline tubing, and other decorations. The tank looks absolutely spectacular.
Now if only I had fish to put in it.
There seems to be a sudden lack of baby fantails in this town. o_0 Last Friday my mom and I went shopping for gravel, etc, and looked to see what kind of fish were in stock.
Pet Store A, where I got Sammy, Jackie, Tony, Addy and Mellie, has recently moved into a new, bigger location and is still in the process of setting up some of the aquatics area. They had three small, gold fantails, but I don't want two that look the same, and they didn't look as robust as they could. Indeed, I called today to see if they got in a fresh shipment (they hadn't) and they told me they were under treatment for ich. :\ They'll get in a new batch of goldfish Wednesday, to go on sale Friday (closed Thursday for Thanksgiving), but the employee I talked to the phone says they didn't order any of the small, white/red-orange fantails that I was looking for.
Pet Store B, where I got Benny, Fergie and Minnie, was very picked over last Friday when I looked, and they didn't have any of the white/red-orange kind, either. I called today and talked to an employee who told me they were just filling out the order forms for their next shipment, which could be in tomorrow evening at the earliest but more likely on Friday. That sounds much more promising! He said he'd go in back and make sure there were some of that kind in the order, and offered to call me back when they arrived. I thanked him and said I'd call tomorrow to check on the status. I don't want to commit to buying fish until I can see them first-hand, but I hung up with a more optimistic feeling that time.
The other two places to buy fish in town are Wal-Mart, which takes abysmal care of their fish and who will NEVER get any money from me for fish, and PetCo, which is where I've gotten almost all my bettas, but whose goldfish have never impressed me that much. They seem to be under observation for health reasons fairly often, and I'm just not that confident about them.
It sucks to have to wait a few more days, when I have this gorgeous tank up and running with no fish in it, and I want my new babies SO MUCH! But I've waited this long, I can wait a bit more. I'm not going to just grab any old fish, since these will hopefully be part of the family for many years. It's a big commitment to bring home new goldfish, and I won't take that step until I find a pair I can really fall in love with.
As for names, I had a brainstorm last night and decided that one might be called Polly. It's a cute little name, fun to say, and should lead to many amusing "Polly wanna cracker pellet?" jokes. ;)
I haven't decided yet on the other one's name, and probably won't until I meet them. It's hard to name an animal sight unseen. It has to "fit."
In the past I've tried to choose unisex names for my goldfish since it's nearly impossible to tell their genders. I've relaxed that standard for the last two, though (Benny and Minnie) and let's face it, it really doesn't matter. They're carp. ;)
So I'll have to see what name(s) come to me when I'm face-to-face with the new guys.
Now if only I had fish to put in it.
There seems to be a sudden lack of baby fantails in this town. o_0 Last Friday my mom and I went shopping for gravel, etc, and looked to see what kind of fish were in stock.
Pet Store A, where I got Sammy, Jackie, Tony, Addy and Mellie, has recently moved into a new, bigger location and is still in the process of setting up some of the aquatics area. They had three small, gold fantails, but I don't want two that look the same, and they didn't look as robust as they could. Indeed, I called today to see if they got in a fresh shipment (they hadn't) and they told me they were under treatment for ich. :\ They'll get in a new batch of goldfish Wednesday, to go on sale Friday (closed Thursday for Thanksgiving), but the employee I talked to the phone says they didn't order any of the small, white/red-orange fantails that I was looking for.
Pet Store B, where I got Benny, Fergie and Minnie, was very picked over last Friday when I looked, and they didn't have any of the white/red-orange kind, either. I called today and talked to an employee who told me they were just filling out the order forms for their next shipment, which could be in tomorrow evening at the earliest but more likely on Friday. That sounds much more promising! He said he'd go in back and make sure there were some of that kind in the order, and offered to call me back when they arrived. I thanked him and said I'd call tomorrow to check on the status. I don't want to commit to buying fish until I can see them first-hand, but I hung up with a more optimistic feeling that time.
The other two places to buy fish in town are Wal-Mart, which takes abysmal care of their fish and who will NEVER get any money from me for fish, and PetCo, which is where I've gotten almost all my bettas, but whose goldfish have never impressed me that much. They seem to be under observation for health reasons fairly often, and I'm just not that confident about them.
It sucks to have to wait a few more days, when I have this gorgeous tank up and running with no fish in it, and I want my new babies SO MUCH! But I've waited this long, I can wait a bit more. I'm not going to just grab any old fish, since these will hopefully be part of the family for many years. It's a big commitment to bring home new goldfish, and I won't take that step until I find a pair I can really fall in love with.
As for names, I had a brainstorm last night and decided that one might be called Polly. It's a cute little name, fun to say, and should lead to many amusing "Polly wanna cracker pellet?" jokes. ;)
I haven't decided yet on the other one's name, and probably won't until I meet them. It's hard to name an animal sight unseen. It has to "fit."
In the past I've tried to choose unisex names for my goldfish since it's nearly impossible to tell their genders. I've relaxed that standard for the last two, though (Benny and Minnie) and let's face it, it really doesn't matter. They're carp. ;)
So I'll have to see what name(s) come to me when I'm face-to-face with the new guys.